Black & Veatch has been selected to serve as owners’ representative for the 500MW San Vicente Energy Storage Facility (SVESF) planned to be built in San Diego County, California, US.

Planned to be built at the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside in San Diego County, the new energy storage facility will be owned by the San Diego County Water Authority and the City of San Diego.

The pumped hydro energy storage project owners are currently assessing the potential to develop the energy storage facility, which is aimed at increasing the availability and efficiency of renewable energy for the region.

Black & Veatch will be responsible in helping evaluating proposals, selection of the full service team and negotiating the project delivery agreement.

“This project would marry investments in water system resilience with renewable energy deployment, helping to reduce greenhouse gases.”

Capable of providing enough stored energy to supply approximately 325,000 homes annually, the proposed project comprises an interconnection and pumping system between the existing San Vicente Reservoir and a new, smaller reservoir located uphill.

During off-peak energy-use periods, the pumping system will be used to pump water from the existing San Vicente Reservoir to the new upper reservoir.

The process will create a bank of stored hydroelectric energy in the upper reservoir which would be released to the lower reservoir by gravity when energy demand and electricity costs are high and when other renewable energy supplies are not available

In addition to supporting power grid operations, the project will enable significant and sustained integration of wind and solar energy into the power supply mix.